A corpora



G. E. MELLIN.

APRON CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26. 1921.

Patented Oct. 17, 1922. I

INVENTOR 4 ATTORNEYS lessened.

Patented Oct. 17, 1922 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. MELLIN, 0F STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO C. W. HUNT COM- PANY, INC., OF WEST NEW BRIGHTON, STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, A CORPORA- TION OF NEW YORK.

APRON CONVEYER.

Application filed January 26, 1921.

l 0 all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonen E. MELLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nesterleigh, Staten Island, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apron Gonveyers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof.

Apron conveyers for coal and other materials have the objection that some of the material accumulates in certain portions of the flights and is not discharged so that the capacity of the conveyor is materially The object of the present invention is to provide a conveyer which shall be made up of a series of flights which are of such construction and so mounted contiguously' that the material which tends to clog therein is agitated somewhat at the time of discharge so as to insure its complete removal. In accordance with the invention the ends of the proximate flights overlap and these ends are given a certain movement when the conveyor changes direction around. the revolving curve, the material in the leading pan being dislodged by its movement relative to the overlapping portion of the succeeding pan. More particularly, the invention in the preferred form finds embodiment in pans of Z-form, the end flanges of proximate pans overlapping. Reference is now to be had to the accompanying drawing for a detailei'l description of the preferred eml'iodimeut of the invention, in which. drawingl igure 1 is a view in side elevation of a fragment of a conveyor made in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a View in longitudinal section of a fragment of the conveyer shown in Figure 1, the relation of proximate pans being indicated.

Figure 8 is a view in plan of so much of the improved conveyer as is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a View in transverse section taken through the improved conveyor.

Figure 5 is a view in longitudinal section through a view of flights showing their relation when breaking at the revolving curve.

The improved conveyer is made up of a Serial No. 439,924.

series of flights comprising vertical side links a to which are secured respectively inclined Z-form pans a, as by means of angle pieces a One such flight has been indicated in the drawing by the reference characters employed, while a second flight, proximate thereto, but of similar construction, has itsoorresponding parts indicated by the reference characters 6, b, 72 For the purposes of this description, it will be sufficient to consider only two such flights. The side links a, Z) of proximate flights are hinged together by means of a trai'isverse axle c which extends therethrough and carries sijqiiporting wheels (Z adjacent its opposite ends, which run on the stnaporting rails e for the conveyer. The ends of proximate axles may be connected further by links 7". One of the principal features of the invention resides in the construction and relation of proximate pans a, b. In conveyers as heretofore known the material has a tendency to clog in the corners of the pans.

For instance, it is likely that material rarried on the inclined pans illustrated would tend to clog at the lower portion thereof and remain undischarged even after the conveyer has passed around the revolving curve. In the improved pans the rear ends are turned up, as at a b of the pans a, I), while the front ends thereof are turned down, as at a, 71 the general. longitudinal outline of the pan being of Z-forni. Normally, the front flange 0 '01? the pan 7) overlaps and lies close to the rear flange of of the proximate pan a. This overlap- .)ing prevents the material from crowding up between them and settling at this point. The shaft of a revolving curve is illustrated at g in Figure 5. lVhen the conveyor flights pass around this curve they, of course, change their angular relation, moving about their respective axles as the centers. For instance, in Figure 5, the pan a is illustrated as having changed its angular relation to the proximate pan 6 and as having swung about its axle c. The result is that the rear flange a has moved away from the front flange of the pan 6 and the two are no longer in overlapping relation. This relative movement between these two flanges at this point serves to agitate the material somewhat at the lowest portion of the pans a just where it would have a tendency to clog and just at the time when the material is being discharged. The result is that all of the material at the rear end of the pan a is removed therefrom and thepan returns empty to receive a new load. The capacity of the conveyer is greatly increased by reason of the complete discharge of the material in the manner described from each of the pans.

The principle disclosed and described may be incorporated in structures of other forms according-to the conditions to be met and the 1')articular design of the conveyer into which the principle is to be incorporated.

1 claim as my invention: '1. An apron COIIVGYGYCOIDPllSlIlg a series of flights, said flights including pans each of which has a portion adapted normallyto extend within the material on the preceding pan and means to connect the proximate flights hingedly whereby said overlapping portion of a panwill move relatively to the 1 asaore preceding pan when the preceding pan changes its direction of travel for dumping.

2. An apron conveyer having a series of inclined flights formed with pans of Z-form.

3. An apron conveyer having a series of flights formed with side links connected by pans of Z-form, the end flanges of contiguous pans normally overlapping, and means to connect the proximate pans hingedly whereby the overlapping flanges will have relative movement when the pans change their direction of travel;

l. An apron conveyer comprising a series of flights formed with side links, pans of Z-fl'orm connecting the side links and having their rear flanges turned upward and their front flanges turned downward to overlap the rear flanges of the proximate pans, axles passing through the links of proximate flights and supporting wheels on the axles forthe conveyer.

This specification signed this 25th day of January A. D. 1921.

GEORGE E. MELLIN. 

